January 17, 2009

Georgia Brown is Still Sweet

As we drove to the game, i had two questions thrown at me with 12
year old pre-teen attitude: 1) I didn't know you liked sports teams?
and 2) why do you keep whistling that song? I was about 7 years old
back in Michigan when my grandpa whistled that same song on our way to
Cobo Arena. Unlike my daughter today, back then I knew exactly what it
meant...

brother bones

While
"that song" had been sung before (by anyone from Bing Crosby to Louis
Armstrong,) ol' Brother Bones taught us long ago that Georgia Brown was
sweet enough that you only had to whistle it Served Bones well as his
nickname back in the day, when he was a Long Beach CA shoeshine boy,
was "Whistling Sam" because he whistled while he worked. Since then,
the Harlem Globetrotters claimed Georgia as their mascot / theme song
and have brought the sweetness of Miss Brown to over 120 countries and
20,000 games. Oh, and they've won more than a couple of them too....

I bet my daughter a dollar (and i'd give her ten dollars if i lost)
that my team, the Globetrotters, would win. "You really don't know
about sports," she taunted back at me with a grin as she agreed to the
bet. I just whistled some more as we pulled into the San Jose Pavilion.

1968 program

By
the time I made it to my first game, the Globetrotters were well known
stars that everyone knew. Curly and team were all over the airwaves
when i was a kid, helping Scobby Doo and crew solve mysteries, getting
trapped on Gilligans Island, and showboating prime time in the "Harlem
Globetrotters Popcorn Machine" variety show (that had players like Fred
"Curly" Neal and "Geese" Ausbie singing, dancing and acting along stars
like Bill Cosby, Sally Struthers and Dom DeLuise.) In the 70's, you
could clearly identify a star by who they hung out with and the way
they dressed....

scooby doo

gilligans island

70's Ballers- Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine!

Tonight
at the game i got a chance to meet "Curly," as he was attending as a
special guest. Even got him to sign my daughters ball-- even though
she wondered why i wanted the old guy to sign it. (Jeez, kids these
days...)

chicago's savoy ballroom, 1927

first game as the "New York Globetrotters," 1927

The
Globetrotters didn't even come from Harlem. In reality they started in
Chicago playing at the Savoy Ballroom in 1927. The teams owner, Abe
Saperstein, first called them the New York Globetrotters because he
wanted them to seem as a world traveling team from the city. He then
went with Harlem Globetrotters so that everyone would know they were
coming to watch a black team (i guess not to disappoint rednecks who
wanted to come see a serious basketball game-- which i'm sure they
thought only white boys could play...... lol, im picturing a white boy
layup in my head.) After initial success locally, the Globetrotters
packed into Saberstein's old Ford Tin Lizzie and traveled the
country.... and soon the world.

germany, 1955

As
the game started in San Jose, my daughter thought she caught on and
thus just knew that the bet wasnt fair and the game was fake. I had
told her that the Globetrotters won the game my grandpa first brought
me to, and that's why i thought they might win this one too. Well, and
also because they've won over 22,000 games in 120+ countries over the
years-- with a win ratio exceeding 98%. Those poor Washington Generals
never have a chance.... Maybe it's time to replace that sneaky old
coach they have?

In the end, I won the bet....

We had a great time...

And the tradition of Georgia Brown continues. My daughter was whistling it as we got out of the car back at home.